The carrier wants to inspect. That is normal, and it is mostly about valuation.

Why private client carriers inspect at all

Standard homeowners insurance rarely involves a visit. Private client insurance usually does, and the reason is arithmetic rather than suspicion.

A generic cost estimator prices a house from a handful of inputs: square footage, a construction class, a quality grade, a few features. That works reasonably on a tract house. On a home with custom millwork, imported stone, an architect's design, a slate or tile roof, a plaster interior or a complex roofline, the estimator has no way to know what is there and systematically understates the rebuild cost. The carrier is about to promise to rebuild that house. It would like to know what it has promised.

The secondary purposes matter too. The visit confirms the property is what the application described, records the protective devices that affect both eligibility and rating, and identifies conditions that could produce an avoidable loss. On a wildfire exposed or rural property it also confirms access, water supply and clearance, which no application answer can establish on its own.

Inspections commonly happen at new business, after a major renovation, on a periodic cycle for existing accounts, after a significant claim, or when a property characteristic changes. Some are exterior only. Some use aerial or satellite imagery instead of or alongside a visit. On a high value home an interior walkthrough is common, because the interior is where the value is.

What the inspector actually looks at

Scope varies by carrier and by the type of inspection ordered. The list below is what tends to be documented on a full private client visit.

Exterior and grounds

• Overall condition, elevations photographed from all sides, and a measurement or confirmation of the footprint.
• Exterior wall construction and cladding: stone, brick, stucco, wood, fibre cement, and whether it is veneer or structural.
• Foundation type, visible condition, and grading and drainage away from the building.
• Decks, porches, balconies, railings, steps and any structural attachment concerns.
• Driveway, access, turnaround, gates and whether the address is visible from the road.
• Trees over the structure, overhanging limbs and anything stored against the building.
• Outbuildings, guest houses, barns, shops and their construction, because these are frequently under-scheduled.
• Pools, spas, ponds, sport courts, docks, and the barriers, fencing, gates and covers around them. Pool fencing is one of the most common recommendation items on the whole list.

Roof

The roof gets the most attention of any single element, on nearly every carrier's form. The inspector is recording the covering type, the approximate or documented age, the condition including granule loss, lifted or missing material, cracked tiles or slates, the complexity of the roofline, the flashing and valleys, the gutters and downspouts, and the state of the chimney, skylights and any penetrations.

Roof age is the variable most likely to produce either a recommendation or a change in terms. If you have the installation invoice or permit, have it ready; a documented date is worth more than an estimate.

Systems: electrical

• Service size, panel manufacturer and age, and whether the panel is of a type widely regarded as problematic.
• Wiring type where visible, including knob and tube or aluminium branch wiring in an older house.
• Obvious deficiencies: double tapped breakers, missing covers, exposed conductors, extensive extension cord use.
• Evidence of updating, and the date of it, which is why knowing your own update dates is useful.

Systems: plumbing, heating and water

• Supply piping type where visible, including galvanised steel or polybutylene in an older house.
• Water heater age, location, seismic strapping where relevant, and whether it sits above finished space.
• Visible leaks, staining or prior water damage, and evidence of repair.
• Heating system type, age and condition, and the condition of any fireplace, wood stove or pellet appliance including clearances and the chimney.
• Supply lines to appliances, which is the origin of a large share of interior water losses.

Water is the peril that produces the most claims on high value homes, and it is the area where carriers are most willing to ask for something in return for writing the risk.

Interior and finishes

On the interior the inspector is mostly a documentarian rather than an examiner. The point is to record what has to be rebuilt.

• Room count, ceiling heights and floor plan, photographed.
• Flooring: hardwood species and pattern, stone, tile, radiant heat underneath.
• Millwork, built-in cabinetry, panelling, coffered or beamed ceilings, interior stone and plaster work.
• Kitchen and bathroom grade, including counters, appliances and fixtures.
• Staircases, ironwork, custom glazing and specialty lighting.
• Purpose-built rooms: wine rooms, home theatres, gyms, studios, safe rooms.
• Visible collections, art placement and display arrangements, which often prompt a conversation about scheduling valuables.

The reconstruction features they are documenting

It is worth naming explicitly what makes a rebuild expensive, because these are the items the estimator will not have and the visit exists to capture.

• Roof complexity and material. Slate, clay tile, cedar shake, standing seam metal and multi-plane rooflines all cost far more to replicate than a simple composition roof on a simple shape.
• Exterior materials. Full stone or brick rather than veneer, custom stucco, large format glazing and curtain wall.
• Ceiling heights and volume. A two storey entry or a vaulted great room costs far more to rebuild than its floor area suggests, which is one of the clearest reasons an area-based estimate misleads on a custom house.
• Custom millwork and interior stone. Site-built cabinetry, panelled libraries, carved stair parts, stone floors and surrounds.
• Specialty systems. Radiant floors, geothermal, elevators, whole-house automation, commercial-grade kitchens.
• Architectural design and historic detail. On an older or historic house, matching original detail can require trades that are hard to find and expensive to hire.
• Site conditions. Steep access, a difficult lot, a long driveway or a remote location all raise the cost of building on that site specifically.
• Code upgrade exposure. An older house rebuilt to current code costs more than a like-for-like replacement of what is there, which is why the ordinance or law provision deserves reading.

The output of all this is a reconstruction estimate, and that estimate is the number the whole policy rests on. When it comes back, read it. If it is materially different from the limit you have been carrying, that is either a correction worth having or an error worth challenging, and both deserve a conversation. A declarations page review is the way to test it.

Alarms, water shutoff devices and protective systems

Protective devices are recorded carefully, because they affect both eligibility and rating on many carriers' programmes.

• Central station monitored burglar and fire alarm. Monitoring status and the certificate matter more than the presence of a keypad. An unmonitored system is documented differently.
• Smoke and heat detection, including whether it is interconnected and whether it is monitored.
• Automatic water shutoff devices. This is the single item most likely to come up on a modern private client submission. A device that detects abnormal flow and closes the main valve automatically is treated very differently from a leak sensor that sends a phone alert. If you are choosing one, choose the one that closes the valve.
• Interior fire sprinklers, which are rare in residential and noted when present.
• Temperature monitoring, particularly relevant on a secondary or seasonal home that sits unoccupied through freezing weather.
• Generator, sump pump and backflow protection where the property has a basement or is served by a well.
• Gates, cameras and access control on properties where those are part of the security arrangement.

If a device is installed but the paperwork has gone missing, get the certificate from the monitoring company before the visit. Inspectors record what they can verify.

Wildfire mitigation, where it applies

On a wildfire exposed property the same visit doubles as a mitigation survey, and this is the part where preparation pays off most visibly. The inspector is looking at the roof and its edges, the eaves, the attic and crawlspace vents, the siding and the material immediately against the building, the deck and what is stored under it, the clearance in each zone out from the structure, the access route and turnaround, and the water supply including hydrant distance or on-site tank or cistern capacity.

Have the mitigation documentation ready as a package rather than describing it. Dated photographs, contractor invoices, defensible space measurements in feet, and any third party recognition such as an IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home designation or Firewise USA community standing. Whether a given carrier credits any of that varies and is decided in underwriting. The fuller treatment of what moves an underwriter is on the wildfire page.

What recommendations typically come back

Most reports produce a short list. These are the items that recur most often.

• Roof repair, or replacement where the covering is near the end of its life.
• Pool, spa or pond fencing, gates, latches or a compliant cover.
• Handrails and guardrails on stairs, decks and elevated walkways.
• Electrical corrections: a panel of a known problematic type, exposed wiring, or missing covers.
• Install or upgrade an automatic water shutoff device.
• Restore or begin central station monitoring on an existing alarm.
• Trim trees and limbs overhanging the roof.
• Chimney cleaning, cap or flashing repair, or clearance correction around a wood stove.
• Clear stored material from against the building, under decks and inside the garage.
• Correct drainage or grading that directs water toward the foundation.
• Wildfire items: vent screening, clearance in the first zone, under-deck clearing.
• Update the schedules where art, jewellery or collections were seen that are not on the policy.

Recommendations are usually tiered. Some are required conditions of coverage with a firm date. Some are requested. Some are simply advisory. Read which category each item sits in before deciding what to do first, and if the letter does not say, ask.

Response deadlines, and how to answer

Carriers set their own response windows and they vary widely, often from thirty days for a safety item to a full policy term for a larger repair. The deadline is normally stated in the letter, and the most common mistake is missing it rather than failing the work.

Answer in the order the recommendations were written, item by item, so the reviewer can tick them off. For each one: what was done, the date, who did it, and a photograph. Attach the invoice with the contractor's licence number where there was one. Where a permit was involved, include the final inspection record.

Where an item cannot be completed in the window, say so in writing before the deadline, with the contractor's name and the scheduled date. A documented delay is routinely workable. A silent one is the thing that turns into a problem.

Where you disagree with a finding, say that too, with evidence. Inspectors work fast and get things wrong: a roof dated by appearance rather than by invoice, a panel misidentified, a fence recorded as missing because the inspector did not walk the far side. A polite correction with documentation attached is normal and is usually accepted.

What happens if recommendations are not completed

The consequences run on a scale rather than falling all at once.

• A follow-up request, which is where most unanswered lists start.
• A change in terms at renewal, such as a higher deductible on the related peril, a limitation, or a rating change.
• A non-renewal at the end of the term, which is a known and dated outcome rather than a surprise, and is worked through on the non-renewal page.
• A mid-term cancellation, which is far less common and is constrained by state law. Oregon limits mid-term cancellation of a homeowners policy to a short statutory list of grounds under ORS 746.687. This is information about the law, not advice about your policy.
• Difficulty at claim time where the loss arises from the exact condition that was identified and left unaddressed. How that is handled depends on the form and the facts, and nobody can tell you in advance how a particular claim would land.

None of that is a reason to panic about a recommendation letter. It is a reason to answer it.

How to prepare

An hour of preparation makes the visit shorter and the report more accurate, which is entirely in your interest.

• Make sure the inspector can reach the electrical panel, the water heater, the furnace, the attic access and the crawlspace.
• Unlock gates and outbuildings, and secure dogs.
• Gather documentation: roof installation date and invoice, electrical and plumbing update dates, alarm monitoring certificate, water shutoff device details, any renovation permits, and appraisals for scheduled items.
• Clear stored material from under decks and from against the exterior walls.
• Check smoke detectors and handrails, and walk the pool barrier yourself, because those are the recurring findings.
• Know your own dates. "The roof is about ten years old" is weaker than a date on an invoice.
• Be present if you can, or have somebody who knows the house be present. A photograph without context becomes a recommendation more often than a photograph with one.
• Answer questions plainly. Guessing at an answer that turns out to be wrong is worse than saying you will check.

After the report

Two things arrive from a private client inspection, and both deserve attention. The recommendations, which have a deadline. And the reconstruction estimate, which sets the limit.

Read the estimate against what you were carrying. If it came back materially higher, the house was probably underinsured and the correction is worth having even though the premium moves. If it came back lower than expected on a genuinely custom house, ask how it was produced, because an estimator run without the detail the visit captured is exactly the problem the visit was supposed to solve. Then check the settlement basis against the new limit: extended replacement cost pays a stated percentage above it, guaranteed replacement cost goes further and is rarer and more conditional than most people assume, and the difference only surfaces after a total loss.

We will read the report and the estimate with you, help you answer the recommendations in the order they were written, and tell you whether the resulting programme still fits the household. Start with a coverage review, or the private client hub for the wider picture. State detail sits on the Oregon, Washington and Idaho pages.